Firm Successfully Represents Bradley D. Sharp, Trustee for the Beshmada Liquidating Trust, in Appeal
Ron Abrams and Robyn Sokol successfully represented Bradley D. Sharp, trustee for the Beshmada Liquidating Trust, in an appeal taken from a bankruptcy court judgment after trial in his favor and against a defendant. In the appeal, in which the District Court affirmed the bankruptcy court, new issues of bankruptcy court jurisdiction under the recent United States Supreme Court decision in In re Bellingham were featured. On the trustee’s behalf, the firm argued as follows: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its Bellingham decision had ruled that jurisdiction could be conferred on a bankruptcy court by consent and that consent can be shown by conduct. The United States Supreme Court in its opinion did not reach that point. Therefore, here the District Court could affirm the bankruptcy court on the ground that the defendant, by actively litigating without objection in the bankruptcy court until the day before trial, consented to jurisdiction in the bankruptcy court. The District Court’s decision appears to rule in that fashion in affirming the bankruptcy court. Click “PDF Download” for the full decision.